GM11

Management Functions and Organizational Behaviour

Assignment-I

Assignment Code: 2011GM11A1 Last Date of Submission: 31st March 2011

Maximum Marks:100

Attempt all the questions.

Section-A

1. (i) Explain the functions of management with suitable examples.

(ii) “Management is a continuous process and its functions are
interdependent and interrelated.” Discuss. (10+10)

2. (i) Describe the degree of application of management functions at different

levels of management hierarchy.
(ii) Explain the three broad set of skills required by managers in discharge of
their managerial responsibilities.
(iii) Briefly explain the roles of managers. (7+5+8)

3. “A rational decision results in the maximum achievement of a goal in a situation”.

Discuss this statement by illustrating the Rational Model of decision making.

(20)

4. (i) Define managerial planning and controlling. Discuss the relationship

between them.
(ii) Give three examples of organizational control of an organization you are
familiar with. (10+10)

Section-B
5. Case Study

Manohar Kale had recently received a promotion to the position of Manager of

Engineering within the Madras Manufacturing Company, a medium-sized firm producing
numerous household products. Manohar had an electrical engineering degree and had
been with the company for nine years since graduating form the I.I.T., Delhi.

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Manohar’s record as a design engineer was excellent. He had developed three new
products that had been marketed around the world and was widely respected for his
many innovative contributions to a department recognized for its reputation as the
industry leaser in new product research and development. Not only was Manohar an
effective engineer, he was also popular with the almost everyone in the company.
Throughout his nine years with Madras Manufacturing, Manohar had kept himself ‘up-to-
date’ in his field by reading engineering journals and by attending continuing education
workshops. Because of his technical/engineering experience with the company and his
ability to get along with people, top management felt very confident in promoting
Manohar to the position of Manager of Engineering.

Manohar’s early experience in supervising the eighteen engineers in the department

proved to be a real challenge. He experienced considerable difficulties being a manager
as compared to an engineer. He continued to be very involved with research and
product design and worked very long hours (sometimes up to 12 hours a day) in order to
‘keep up’ his design engineering. As a result of this situation, Manohar did not provide
the overall direction and coordination of the department that top management believed
was necessary in order to achieve maximum effectiveness.

Manohar also began to feel pressure from some of the engineers who likewise believed
that he was overly involved in performing ‘routine engineering’ and not ‘managing’ the
department.

Since Manohar wanted to improve as a manager, he decided to discuss the problems

with his boss.

Case Questions

I. What is the basic problem confronting Manohar Kale as a Manager? What is the
cause?

II. Did top management make a mistake in promoting Manohar to the position of a
Manager?

III. What skills are important for Manohar as the Manager? Why?
(5+7+8)

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 GM11
Management Functions and Organizational Behaviour
Assignment-II

Assignment Code: 2011GM11A2 Last Date of Submission: 15th May 2011

Maximum Marks:100

Attempt all the questions.

Section-A

1. (i) Define organizing and discuss its purpose.

(ii) Identify and briefly describe six forms of departmentalization.
(10+10)

2. (i) Define leadership and distinguish between a leader and a manager.

(ii) What are the four leadership behaviours in the path-goal theory of
leadership? Discuss.
(10+10)

3. (i) Is there a difference between groups and teams?

(ii) As a team member, what can you do to reduce dysfunctional conflict and
promote functional conflict in your team.
(10+10)

4. (i) What is Organizational Behaviour? Why is it important for managers to

have good OB skills?
(ii) Write short notes on the following :
(a) Personality
(b) Organizational Culture
(c) Job Satisfaction
(d) Interpersonal Relations

5. Case Study
“When Play Becomes Work”
Sheetal Banavali’s daily routine as a Team Leader at UK 3 is anything but ordinary.
Eight straight hours of handling a team of executives servicing customers from halfway
across the world is bound to leave anyone exhausted.

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“I either go to Unwind, which plays great music, or Cuisine, where the food is top of the
world. Sometimes I even go to Finesse to get my hairdo right,” she says. Unwind and
Cuisine, by the way, are theme cafeterias, while Finesse is a beauty salon. And yes, all
three are located within the 3 office premises at Mindspace, Malad.
“We are setting the benchmark in HR practices,” says 3 Head (Recruitment and HR
Support) Akhil Sharma, who prefers describing the 5,000-employee strong 3 as a
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) company rather than a plain Jane BPO.
“Our focus is the employee and we believe in nurturing his or her talent.”
With a Citibank ATM inside the office, a full-fledged gaming arcade, a higher education
programme - Gurukul - that has a tie-up with institutions like Narsee Monjee Institute of
Management Studies and the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India allowing
employees to pursue an MBA or a CA, the only thing missing is bed and breakfast. “By
the way, we have three company guesthouses if the staff wants to stay overnight,” says
Sharma with a laugh. Even market leaders join the game
If BPOs are upping the ante, the IT companies, small and big, aren’t far behind.
Sudheesh Venkatesh, Vice-President, HR, of the India operations of Tesco, the world’s
largest grocery home-shopping service in the world, puts the paradigm shift in
perspective calling it the ‘death of the personnel manager’
“The IT industry has effectively ensured that the old personnel department is gone and
done away with. Human resources today is completely about talent management and
retention,” he says. And walking the talk, Tesco offers employees not only maternity and
paternity leave, but also adoption leave. “We are an equal opportunity employer and if
any employee of ours wants to adopt a child, we will support him or her in every possible
way,” he says.
The Tesco campus at Whitefield in Bangalore also houses a learning centre where
employees can register themselves for a retail certification course from no less than the
Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore. “We have also done away with the
probation period because we are in the business of training people,” says Venkatesh.
Gurgaon-based Eon Technologies, which handles offshore projects across Europe, is a
small company by Indian IT standards. “But we have practices which are cutting edge,”
says Prema Pillai, head of HR at the company. “Tele-commuting, flexi-time and retreats
focused on team building are our strong points.”

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Questions
I. What principles of motivation are being used here?
II. What control tools would be most effective in this kind of work environment?
III. Can such efforts lead to a consistent behavior in organizations? Give reasons.
IV. How can one reconcile individual and organizational needs in such circumstances?

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